• Ariwara Narihira and Ono no Komachi (在原業平と小野小町) from the series <i>Five Colors of Love for the Six Poetic Immortals</i> (<i>Goshiki zome rokkasen</i> - 五色染六歌仙)　
Ariwara Narihira and Ono no Komachi (在原業平と小野小町) from the series <i>Five Colors of Love for the Six Poetic Immortals</i> (<i>Goshiki zome rokkasen</i> - 五色染六歌仙)　
Ariwara Narihira and Ono no Komachi (在原業平と小野小町) from the series <i>Five Colors of Love for the Six Poetic Immortals</i> (<i>Goshiki zome rokkasen</i> - 五色染六歌仙)　
Ariwara Narihira and Ono no Komachi (在原業平と小野小町) from the series <i>Five Colors of Love for the Six Poetic Immortals</i> (<i>Goshiki zome rokkasen</i> - 五色染六歌仙)　
Ariwara Narihira and Ono no Komachi (在原業平と小野小町) from the series <i>Five Colors of Love for the Six Poetic Immortals</i> (<i>Goshiki zome rokkasen</i> - 五色染六歌仙)　
Ariwara Narihira and Ono no Komachi (在原業平と小野小町) from the series <i>Five Colors of Love for the Six Poetic Immortals</i> (<i>Goshiki zome rokkasen</i> - 五色染六歌仙)　
Comments and Tags (0)
Share

Kitagawa Utamaro (喜多川歌麿) (artist ca 1753 – 1806)

Ariwara Narihira and Ono no Komachi (在原業平と小野小町) from the series Five Colors of Love for the Six Poetic Immortals (Goshiki zome rokkasen - 五色染六歌仙)　

Print

ca 1798
9.75 in x 11.875 in (Overall dimensions) Signed: Utamaro hitsu (哥麿筆)
Publisher: Yama-Jin
(Marks U384 seal 02-042)
Two unidentified red seals
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art - Sōjō Henjō Slipping a Letter into a Woman’s Sleeve Ariwara no Narihira (825-80) was a famous poet and lover. He was said to have made love to 3733 women in his lifetime and possibly a few men and boys, too.

Listed in Hickmann 1978, #512, which dates this series about 1798.

****

The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has five prints using the same publisher's seal as this print in the Lyon Collection. The museum refers to their publisher as 'Kagaya'. The British Museum says this is a seal for Kagaya Kichibei, but the date of this print pre-dates those given by Marks by several years. At times the British Museum curators refer to it as Kagaya, Kagaya Kichibei or even Yama-Jin. It would be nice to settle on one name at some point in the future.

Marks notes in his entry on Yama-jin: "Name assigned according to seal shape. Sometimes called Kagaya."

Note also that there are two seals in red on the front of the print that are as yet unidentified. They are probably those of an owner or owners.

****

There is another copy of this print in the Japan Ukiyo-e Museum (日本浮世絵博物館).

Illustrated in a small black and white reproduction in the Illustrated Catalogues of Tokyo National Museum: Ukiyo-e Prints (2), #2041. (This print was not illustrated online as of November, 2019.)
mitate-e (見立て絵) (genre)
Yama-Jin (仁 ) (publisher)
Ariwara Narihira (在原 業平: from 825 to 880) (author)